The Ciba-Geigy compound in Tsuen Wan

 Sometimes I wonder what happened to the Ciba-Geigy compound in Tsuen Wan where I spent some important years of my working life.

It was a beautiful place to me.

I remember the spacious offices, the laboratories, the warehouse, the canteen, and the people who filled the place with life. We held our Open House there. We had meetings and seminars. Staff gathered in the canteen for lunch. We celebrated long-service awards and shared many good moments together.

But the world does not stand still.

Today, I am not sure whether that company compound is still there in the same form as I remember it. Perhaps it has been changed, rebuilt, sold, or replaced. I really don't know.

And perhaps that is the way life is.

I think about La Salle College too. The magnificent campus that I knew as a young man was eventually sold. The place that carried so many memories for me changed hands.

Could the same thing have happened to our Ciba-Geigy compound?

I really don't know.

Companies change. Buildings change. Cities change. Even the places that once seemed permanent can disappear or become something completely different.

What remains is what we carry in our memory.

For me, Ciba-Geigy will always be the company I knew during those years—the people I worked with, the friends I made, the challenges we faced, the laughter around the lunch table, the seminars, the celebrations, and the many families and colleagues I had the privilege of helping.

That Ciba-Geigy still exists in my memory.

And no one can sell that.